Evaporating still



Dec. 29, 1925. 1,567,455 D. L. NEWTON.

EVAPORATING STILL Filed August '7, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m 3\ J/JJ-Q/ Lpi/j y x I Dec. 29,1925. 1,567,455

- D. L. NEWTON EVAPORATING STILL 7 Filed Augut 7. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I JIM/WW7. 00/7/6/ 1.. Newton 7 WW/way A rroe/vfrs Patented -Dec. 29,1925.

UNITED. STATES 1,557,455 PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL L. NEw'roN, or ronpnn'rom CALIFORNIA.

EVAPOBATING STILL.

Application filed August 7, 1522. Serial No. 580,269.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, DANIEL L. NEWTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fullerton, in the .county of Orange and State of California, have invented new and from natural gas, and for topping and other evaporating purposes.

It is a purpose of my invention to provide an evaporating still of the above described character in "which the quick and uniform heating of the material to be treated is effected and .with the utter absence of any hot spots which would decompose or crack the material to be distilled.

Although I will describe-only one form of evaporating still embodying my invention and point out the novel features thereof in claims, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and the spirit and scope of the appended claims. I

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a view showing in vertical section one form of evaporating still embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a view showing in side elevation the evaporating still shown in Fig. '1 and connected toa conventional form of boiler.

Referring specifically to the drawings, in which similar reference characters refer to similar-parts, my invention in its resent embodiment com rises a tank 15, pro erably.

of cylindrical orm, with itslower end closed and its upper end provided with a substantially conical cover 16 which communicates at its apex with a discharge ipe 17. 'The tank is interiorly divided 1nto three separate and distinct comdpartments by means of partitions 18, 19v an '20. The chamber between the partitions 18 and 19 constitutes a steam compartment designated at 21, and the partitions are perforated at corresponding points. to' receive pipes 22 and23. As clearly shown in Fig. 1, the

pipes 22 are arranged in three concentric series and exceed the ipes 23 in diameter for a purpose which wlll'be hereinafter described. Thepipes 23 are also arranged in three concentric series and in parallel repre lation witli respect to the series of pi cs 22. The partition 20 cooperates wit the bottom of'thc tank 15 to provide an oil re 1 ceiving compartment 24 and to which oil is adapted to be supplied by'a pipe 25. The partition 20 cooperates with the to form an oil collecting cham er 26, and communicating with this chamber are the lower ends of the pipes 22. The pipes 23 are extended below the lower ends of the pipes 22 and into the partition 20, so as to )have communication with the compartment 245 for the purpose of conducting oil from the chamberupwardly to the upper ends of the pipes 22.

The oil collected within the compartment 26 is conveyed to an exterior point by means of a pi e 27.

Steam is a apted to besupplied to the compartment 21 from a boiler 28 (Figure 2), this boiler being of any conventional form and having communication with the upper end of the chamber 21 by means of a pipe '29. This connection permits of the circulation of steam about the several pipes 22 and 23 with a final discharge from the com artmentthrough a pipe 30, which is erably provided with a steam trap 31.

A pipe 32 conveys steam from the boiler 28 to the chamber 26, and as clearly shown in- Fig. 1, this ipe is provided with discharge ports 33 disposed to discharge steam into the com artment 26 and upwardly through the pipes 22.

As previously stated, the evaporating still is adapted for distilling oil which has absorbed gasoline from natural gas to expel the gasoline therefrom. This oil, which is commonly known as a fat oil, is supplied to. the compartment 24 through the pipe 25 in such quantities as to cause it to circulate upwardly through the pipes 23 and downwardly through the pipes 22. During such circulation, a rapid and uniform heating of the oil is effected by virtue of its intimate contact with the walls of the pipes and the fact that the latter are heated, as for instance to 230 F., by the high pressure steam from boiler 28. The steam ascending the pipes 22 from the chamber 26 sets up a currentcounter to that of the falling oil thereby materially assisting in the evaporation of the latter. This heating process naturallyeffects anevaporation of the gasoline content of the oil with the result that the gasoline vapors pass upwardly from the partition 19- pipes and ultimately out of the tank through the pipe 17 Where they may be conveyed to a suitable condensing apparatus.

By the time the oil is discharged from the lower ends of the pipes 22 and into the compartment 26, it is devoid ofgasoline content, and this oil, which is known as lean oil, is conveyed from the compartment through the pipe 27. K p i From the foregoing description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, it will be manifest that I have provided an evaporating still of extremly simple, durable and eihcient construction and which operates to effect the rapid and uniform heating of any material to be treated to effect the expulsion of the desired volatile content, and with the utter absence of any hot spots which would decompose or crack the material to be distilled. In its adaptation to the distillation of gasoline, it is extremely eflicient as compared to similar apparatus heretofore proposed.

I claim:

1. An evaporating still comprising a vertical casing, a lower, a middle and a top partition therein forming at the bottom an oil compartment, a residual oil compartment thereabove, a steam compartment above the residual oil compartment, and a vaporizing chamber at the top, a series of small bore pipes leading from the oil compartment to the vaporizing chamber, a series of large bore tubes leading from the vaporizing chamber to the residual oil compartment, a steam inlet to the residual oil compartment, means for feeding oil to the oil compartment, means for withdrawing the vapors at the top of the still, means for with-' drawing the residual oil, and means for introducing a heating medium into the heating compartment.

2. In an evaporating still, a tubular casing having a lower, a middle and an upper of pipes into which flows the overflmvingi liquid from the first series of pipes, the second series of pipes-extending through said.

upper compartment and communicating with said middle compartment, means for introducing steam into said middle (3.011112%- ment and into said second series of pipes, and an outlet from said casing for the liquid collected in said middle chamber.

3. In an evaporating still, a tubular casing having a lower, a middle and an -upper compartment, and a top chamber for the vapors, said lower compartment being adapted to be kept continuously filled with a liquid to be vaporized, a plurality of pipes communicating with said lower compartment and extending through said middle and upper compartments and adapted, to be kept continuously filled to overflowing with the liquid from said lower compartment, plurality of pipes associated with the first series of pipes into which flows the overflowing liquid from the first series of pipes, the second'series ofpipes extending through said upper compartment and communica'ting with said middle compartment, means for introducing steam into said middle compartment and into said second series of pipes, an outlet from said casing for the liquid collected in said middle chamber, and

means for heating said upper compartment. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

. DANIEL L. NEWTON. 

